What is not known is Foxxconn wages are among the highest for electronics factories in all of China.... you're probably typing on a computer that has components in it built using labour that are 1/10th of what was paid to a Foxxconn employee.

Also somewhat unknown, much of the employees at Foxxconn aren't there for long term, they come from the villages and take up jobs in cities and work for the wages, part of the reason they can't afford that iPad is simply because the reason they are doing it is to save money for remittance back to the villages they came from or are saving up to start their own business.

The reality of it, in a country with so many people wages will never be high.... as the day you ask for higher wages, there will be a million waiting for your job. Plus YOU don't want to pay more for your iPad either.

(Original post by Herr)
Those workers certainly aren't 17 or 18 years of age

What is not known is Foxxconn wages are among the highest for electronics factories in all of China.... you're probably typing on a computer that has components in it built using labour that are 1/10th of what was paid to a Foxxconn employee.

Also somewhat unknown, much of the employees at Foxxconn aren't there for long term, they come from the villages and take up jobs in cities and work for the wages, part of the reason they can't afford that iPad is simply because the reason they are doing it is to save money for remittance back to the villages they came from or are saving up to start their own business.

The reality of it, in a country with so many people wages will never be high.... as the day you ask for higher wages, there will be a million waiting for your job. Plus YOU don't want to pay more for your iPad either.

I know all of that. It doesn't make me feel any better for the workers though.

(Original post by Herr)
Those workers certainly aren't 17 or 18 years of age

What is not known is Foxxconn wages are among the highest for electronics factories in all of China.... you're probably typing on a computer that has components in it built using labour that are 1/10th of what was paid to a Foxxconn employee.

Also somewhat unknown, much of the employees at Foxxconn aren't there for long term, they come from the villages and take up jobs in cities and work for the wages, part of the reason they can't afford that iPad is simply because the reason they are doing it is to save money for remittance back to the villages they came from or are saving up to start their own business.

The reality of it, in a country with so many people wages will never be high.... as the day you ask for higher wages, there will be a million waiting for your job. Plus YOU don't want to pay more for your iPad either.

That's the most bizzare proposition I have read in here (and that's quite an achievement).

Having so many people (which as you said makes labour abundant and therefore it's price, wages, low) is not the problem. The problem is the ratio of capital/labour which right now is still very low in China. But I don't get why it's impossible to greatly increase it (i.e. add capital investment) and thereby greatly increase labour productivity and with it, wages. The US is no small country either btw - 300+ million people - and they're still doing fine.

The suicide nets are due to the fact that last year 15 people committed suicide, for reasons not entirely known. Some people think this was because the insurance money paid to their family was more than they would be able to give their family from their wages.
It's a sad world
Foxconn is infamous in China for those suicides though, especially since there was discussion on many Chinese forums.